[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
The volume under review focuses on the reception of the hero Hercules (or Herakles) and examines how his myth has been represented across various theatrical forms, from classical antiquity to the modern day. Part of Brill’s ‘Metaforms’ series on the Reception of Classical Antiquity, it joins four volumes dedicated to exploring the reception of Hercules, three of which have been edited or co-edited by the indefatigable Emma Stafford, coordinator of the project ‘Hercules: A Hero for All Ages’ run at the University of Leeds.[1]
Hercules Performed has been split into four parts that discuss the theatrical representations of Hercules’ Labours, Madness, Death and Apotheosis and Setting Hercules to Music.
Stafford’s preface paves the way by explaining the rationale behind this book. She addresses the challenge of adapting the myth of Hercules for the stage, in that there is not one definitive version of the myth or character. She also suggests some of the likely reasons for Hercules’ continued popularity in theatrical adaptations despite the difficulties in displaying his mythos. In her subsequent introduction, Stafford continues to explore the inherent contradictions of Hercules’ character and the troubles they present for staging. In addition, she underscores the usefulness of case studies to investigate Hercules’ multi-faceted nature as each contributor uses a different aspect of his myth and character within their work.
The first section, ‘Labours’, consists of five chapters which focus on the depictions of Hercules’ labours in theatre, which contribute to a discourse on topics such as fitness, masculinity, celebrity status and genocide. Stead offers an intriguing exploration into Hercules’ impact on performative fitness through the work of Eugen Sandow (1867 – 1925), the German bodybuilder and performer who represented many of his labours in his performances. Next, Chatr Aryamontri focuses on the work of Dürrenmatt whose play adapts the character of Hercules to consider the meaning of ‘man’ post-World War II and addresses ideas of nihilism and existentialism. Frade analyses the chorus in Helen Eastman’s Hercules (2010) and reflects upon the challenges of adapting Euripides’ Hercules paired with the challenges of using a Greek chorus in modern theatre. Frade highlights the struggle of depicting Hercules’ labours in tandem with the general difficulty of adapting ancient tragedy for the modern stage, since much cultural context has been lost since the play was created. Lastly, Hodkinson investigates Harrison’s, The Labourers of Herakles (1995) plying the notebooks used to create the play.
The second section, ‘Madness’, provides an in-depth exploration of Hercules’ condition, its causes, the ramifications of his madness, its representation and the audience’s response to it. Bernstein’s chapter explores Hercules’ madness and filicide in theatrical adaptations from ancient examples to the Renaissance period. Filicide, a central aspect of Hercules’ myth, has been variously explained as caused by the gods, fate, drunken madness, or the result of an undiagnosed medical condition. Hamstead’s chapter continues this discussion by comparing the reception of Medea’s and Hercules’ filicides. Hamstead uses psychological and statistical analysis to delve into the nature of filicide and the audiences’ perception of this crime. Gartland considers the use of space in modern versions of Euripides’ Herakles; here he demonstrates how movement can function as a metaphor for madness and how the movement of the characters within the play can reveal hidden depths to the story.
The third section explores the death and apotheosis of Hercules and discusses the difficulties of displaying elements of his personality often perceived as less heroic by the modern audience. Degiovanni focuses on Hercules’ representation in the Comedie-Italienne which blends the traditions of comedy and tragedy to retell the hero’s death, playing upon Hercules’ traditional role as a comedic character. This chapter goes on to demonstrate how the myths of Hercules, particularly his death, can be adapted to represent modern ideologies such as fascism. Ioannidou examines the production of Sophocles’ Trachiniae at Syracuse in 1933 and traces how Hercules’ character was altered to become a heroic figure of national rebirth sought by fascism. Okell investigates modern adaptations of Sophocles’ Women of Trachis (or Trachiniae) examining the relationship between Hercules and Deianira. Rodosthenous continues this focus in his adaptation of this myth, The Wife of Heracles (2010), which he created and directed with a group of final-year Theatre and Performance students from the University of Leeds. He explains how the choices made in producing this play serve both characterisation and contextualisation.
The final section highlights the enduring appeal of Hercules across musical genres and eras. The breadth of Hercules’ mythology allows authors and artists to create ever new versions of his character. Soloman discusses Hercules’ representation in Ercole amante, a French court opera from the reign of Louis XIV; court operas often use the hero to represent ideals of morality for the royal family and link them to real-world events, Ercole amante (Hercules’ Lover) was thus created to celebrate a wedding. Rocklein focuses on the morality of Deianira within Handel’s Hercules and showcases how idealised female morality was in many ways similar in classical Athens and 18th-century England. Stafford and composer Benjamin in their particularly compelling contribution report how they created an oratorio based upon the ‘Hercules’ choice’ motif, where as a youth he chose between the personified ‘virtue’ and ‘vice’. Nogueira explores Hercules’ representation in 21st-century music, often focused on Hercules’ strength, emotions and his sexual prowess and thus distinctively different from the moralistic representations of previous chapters.
Stafford’s epilogue offers a succinct summary of the varied and multi-faceted versions of Hercules in theatre and revisits the case studies used in this book. She highlights the difficulties in depicting Hercules on stage due to the slippery nature of many of his myths and his complex character. Stafford concludes by suggesting areas of research not yet covered.
In conclusion, Hercules Performed provides a comprehensive and compelling analysis of Hercules’ representation in theatrical performances and highlights his relevance in culture and academia. Each contribution offers a unique perspective of Hercules. The collection thus emphasizes the complexities and challenges of bringing this multifaceted character to life on the stage. In addition, it also reveals how authors use him as an opportunity to put forward their messages through his character. By presenting these case studies, this book advances scholarship into the reception of Hercules and invites further investigation of his character in theatre and other media. It will undoubtedly be a valuable resource for those researching mythological characters in contemporary media and will provide a model for future work in reception studies.
Authors and Titles
Emma Stafford, “Introduction: Embodying the Hero and His Story”
Part 1, Labours
- Henry Stead, “Sandow the Modern Hercules: or the Twelve Labours of the Class-Conscious Historian of British Classics”
- Deborah Chatr Aryamontri, ‘‘Hercules and the Tragicomic in the Epic Theatre of Dürrenmatt”
- Sofia Frade, “‘Breaking News: Hercules Is the Son of Zeus’: the Chorus in Helen Eastman’s Hercules”
- Owen Hodkinson, ‘‘The Moral Madness of the Modern Herakles’: Collage and Fragments in Tony Harrison’s The Labourers of Herakles and the Harrison Archive”
Part 2, Madness
- Neil W. Bernstein, “The Madness of Hercules from Euripides to the Renaissance”
- Sue Hamstead, “Herakles, Medea and the Reality of Filicide”
- Samuel D. Gartland, “Herakles in Orbit: the Role of Space in Modern Versions of Euripides’ Herakles”
Part 3, Death and Apotheosis
- Lucia Degiovanni, “The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules at the Comédie-Italienne: from Senecan Tragedy to Commedia dell’Arte”
- Eleftheria Ioannidou, “The Sweet Vitality of Dancing Bodies: Classical Embodiment, Modernist Poetics, and Fascist Visions in Sophocles’ Trachiniae at Syracuse in 1933”
- Eleanor Okell, “Herakles, Sex, Death, and Spin: Sophocles’ Women of Trachis and Its Adaptations”
- George Rodosthenous, “Directing The Wife of Heracles (2010) for a Contemporary Audience: Footballers, Hairdressers and Dispensing the Poiso”
Part 4, Setting Hercules to Music
- Jon Soloman, “Hercules and Opera at the Court of Louis XIV: Ercole amante”
- Robyn M. Rocklein, “Shattered Female Virtue: Dejanira as Depicted in Handel’s Hercules”
- Emma Stafford and Tim Benjamin, “‘I Shall Sing of Herakles’: Writing a Hercules Oratorio for the Twenty-First Century”
- Adriana F. Nogueira, “Herakles in Twenty-First Century Music”
Emma Stafford, “Epilogue”
Notes
[1] For the other books in this project see: Allan. A, Anagnostou-Laoutides. E, Stafford. E (2020) Herakles inside and outside the Church: from the first apologists to the end of the Quattrocento. Metaforms: studies in the reception of classical antiquity, vol. 18. Leiden; Boston: Brill. For the BMCR review see here: https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2021/2021.01.21/; Mainz. V, Stafford E. (2020) Exemplary Hercules from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment and Beyond, vol. 20. Leiden; Boston: Brill; Blanshard. A, J, L, Stafford. E. (2021) The Modern Hercules: images of the Hero from the Nineteenth to the Early Twenty-First Century, vol. 21. Leiden; Boston: Brill. Metaforms has also published this book relating to the character of Hercules: Davies. M. (2023) The Hero’s Life Choice. Studies on Heracles at the Crossroads, the Judgement of Paris, and Their Reception, Metaforms: studies in the reception of classical antiquity, vol. 24. Leiden; Boston: Brill. For Emma Stafford’s previous work on Hercules, see: Stafford. E (2011) Herakles. London: Routledge. For ‘Hercules: a Hero for All Ages’, see: https://herculesproject.leeds.ac.uk/)